Hair clipping device



OC 30, 1956 A. w. coGGlNs ET AL 2,768,438

HAIR CLIPPING DEVICE Filed Feb. 21, 1955 Ewa-Mm) MM United States PatentO M HAIR CLIPPING DEVICE Archie W. Coggins and Leland Erickson, EauClaire, Wis.

Application February 21, 1955, Serial No. 489,347

1 Claim. (Cl. 30-200) This invention relates to a hair clipping deviceand more particularly to an attachment for conventional hair clippers.

The conventional hair clipper is provided with a body portion whichconstitutes a hand grip and also may house mechanism to power theclipping elements. The lower portion of the clipper terminates in a heelplate having a forwardly extending clipper-toothed edge which providesthe shearing action during oscillatory movement thereof. Theconventional clipper may have a at heel plate or be slightly contouredso that the teeth may be angulated into close contact With the skin ormay be raised slightly from the skin when clipping hair short. Theconventional hair clipper is also commonly used in conjunction with acomb. However, the manipulation of the comb and clippers requires a highdegree of skill since the operators hands must work independently toachieve the desired result. The comb is used to straighten and pull thehair outwardly from the skin while the clipper is employed in taperingangulation to effect a smooth and continuous result.

To the best of our knowledge, no hair clipper has been provided withmeans which will automatically achieve a combing and tapering effectwhen the clippers are naturally moved and angulated in one-handedoperation. We are aware of certain rigid combing attachments which canbe secured forwardly of the oscillating teeth on the conventionalclippers, but such teeth have no function other than combing the hair inadvance of the clipper teeth. No tapering or provision for smooth andeven cutting is achieved by the forwardly extending comb members whichare not automatically adjustable with reference to the cutting teethduring use.

It is a general object of this invention to overcome the above notedprior difliculties and to provide a hair clipping device which willeasily and eiliciently cut a smooth taper without the application ofspecial skill.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide anattachment which will permit a proper rocking motion while, at the sametime, cooperatively providing an outwardly extending hair taper throughresilient means.

Still more specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide aclipper attachment which will comb the hair and hold it in position tobe cut in advance of the clipper teeth while providing a rocking andspacing of the teeth from the skin of the user and, further,automatically accomplishing a shift in angulation of the clipper teethas the cut is eifected.

These and other -objects and advantages of our invention will be moreapparent from the following description, made in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to thesame parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. l is an enlarged fragmentary view of the bottom portion of aconventional clipper showing the heel plate and fixed teeth thereof insecured position;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional clipper Patented Oct. 30,1956 ICC to which our attachment has been secured, unnecessary portionsof the device being cut away;

Fig. 3 is a side view of a lowerfragment of the clipper shown in Fig. 2,hidden portions being indicated in dotted line;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the supporting and fastening elementwith the spring plate attached thereto; andV Fig. 5 is a cross sectionalview of the attachment device in mounted position taken on the line 5-5of Fig. 3.

With continued reference to the drawing, we contemplate employing aconventional clipper 10 having the ordinary heel plate 11 which issecured to the body of clipper 10 by such means as screws 12.. The heelplate 11 terminates forwardly in fixed teeth 13 over which oscillatingteeth 14 are positioned in shearing contact, as shown in Figs. l, 2 and3. The relatively oscillable teeth 13 and 14 generally are taperedadjacent their ends so as to permit clipping of hair close to the skin.Although the conventional clipper 10 in the instant case is anelectrically operated device, it is understood that our invention isequally applicable toV manually operated hair clippers.

Referring now to Fig. 4, our invention contemplates a supporting andfastening element 15 which may be in block form and having alongitudinalgroove or opening 16 formed therethrough and communicating with an edge17. A recessed area delined'by the cut edge 18 permits the supportingand fastening element 15. to be inserted upon the rear margin 19 of heelplate 11. The slot or opening 16 provides frictional clamping engagementwith the margin 19 and may be varied to suit the individual dimensionsand characteristics of conventional hair clippers 10.

A resilient skin-contacting plate 20 is attached to the supporting andfastening element 15 and comprises a spring sheet 21 which is curveddownwardly and forwardly, as shown in Fig. 3. The rear portion of theplate 21 may terminate reversely in a flat portion 22 having means suchas openings 23 through which fasteners such as bolts 24 may extend, asshown in Figs. 3 and 5. The openings 23 are preferably elongated slots,as indicated in Fig. 3. The bolts 24 are threadably received in tappedopenings 25 formed through the supporting and fastening element 15, asshown in Figs. 4 and 5. Larger openings 26 may be formed through thebody portion 21 of the skin-contacting plate 2t) s0 as to be inalignment with the bolts 24, as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The entirespring plate 20 may be adjustably moved forwardly and rearwardly withthe bolts 24 in loosened condition.

The resilient skin-contacting plate 20 terminates forwardly in ahair-guiding and lifting member 27 which is preferably in the form of acomb element removably secured to a forward position on the resilientplate 20, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The curved body portion 21 of theresilient blade 20 may terminate in a gripping edge 28 having curvedbifurcated legs 29 and 30, as Shown in Fig. 4. The gripping edge 28 isadapted to receive the enlarged back portion 31 of comb 27, as shown inFig. 3. When comb 27 is in position, the teeth will extend forwardly andbelow the oscillable cutting teeth of the clipper 10, as shown in Fig.3. The device is adapted to hold several types and sizes of combs 27depending upon the requirements of the clipper during use.

It will be noted that the curved spring blade 21 of the skin-contactingmember 20, together with the comb element 27, are so angulated withrespect to the oscillable teeth 13 and 14 of clipper 10 that theforewardmost tip edge 32 of the comb teeth will lie forwardly andslightly below the clipper teeth when the attachment is in relaxedcondition.

In the use and operation of our attachment, a suitable comb orhair-guiding and lifting member 27 is slidably secured to the grippingor clamping edge 28. The supporting and fastening element 15 is thenattached to the rear margin 19 of the heel plate 11, as shown in Fig. 2.A screwdriver may be employed to' loosen the bolts 24 so that the plate2t) and comb 27 may be properly positioned in a forwardly and rearwardlydirection with respect to the heel plate 11 and teeth 13 and 14. Theopenings 26, of course, provide an accessway for the screwdriver ineffecting the adjustment. The clipper is then energized so that teeth 13and 14 will move relatively and provide shearing action to cut the hair.Where it is desired to clip close to the skin as at the lower neckportion, pressure is exerted upon the clipper so'that the teeth 13 ofplate 11 are depressed in contact with the comb teeth 32. In sodepressing the clipper teeth, the conformation of the plate 21 will bealtered but little, and a curved contacting surface convex at thedownward surface will be maintained. A smooth and accurate taper may beeffected by raising the entire clipper 10 and, at the same time, rockingthe clipper downwardly simultaneously with the upward movement thereof.The shift of pressure rearwardly on spring plate 21 will release theforce thereon and permit the forwardly directed comb teeth 32 to becomespaced from the clipper teeth 13 and 14. As the movement of the clipper10 progresses upwardly, the entire clipper may be brought out of contactwith the skin and the tapering of the cut hair ends will be continued byvirtue of the holding and guiding effect of the comb element 27.

It may thus be seen that we have devised a hair clipper which willsimultaneously perform a combing and clipping operation, yet willautomatically provide for the proper spacing and positioning of the combportion when naturally utilizing the clipper 10 in a one-handed op'eration. The net effect is to produce a tapered hair cut of professionalquality with the use of a single instrumentality in a simple and easilylearned manner.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of our invention.

What we claim is:

In a hair clipping device the combination with a conventional hairclipper having a heel plate terminating forwardly in oscillable cuttingteeth, of a removable clamping member transversely mounted upon the saidheel adjacent the rear edge thereof, a spring plate resiliently mountedto the clamping member and adjustable forwardly and rearwardly withrespect to the heel plate and oscillable cutting teeth, said springplate underlying in spaced clearance the surface of said heel plate, anda comb removably secured at a forward position on said spring plate andhaving its teeth extending forwardly in free spaced clearance with saidoscillable cutting teeth.

References Cited in the tile of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS

